Advice for choosing a Subwoofer.

DanAckerman

I've been following a few conversations about speakers and I keep hearing that the choice of a subwoofer will be key. So instead of hijacking someone else's thread, here is my info.

I will start with the room. Current room is an odd shape. The longest wall is around 20 ft, widest point is around 16 ft. However there is wooden staircase along one of the long walls. The floors are hardwood, with some area rugs (My house is around 160 years old, no laminates here) The ceiling is between 10-11 ft high, except where there is an up on the staircase to around 28ft. I'm running a 5.1 system here now, I don't think 7.1 is really possible in the current configuration.

Use is both music and home theater.

Setup.
AVR - Denon AVR-688. I only paid $160 for it new and so far I'm fairly happy with it. It wasn't what I went out to buy, but I couldn't pass up the price.
Fronts - Polk TSi400's
Center - Polk CS10
Surrounds - Polk TSi200's
SW - Currently only a PSW10

Budget - I'm not certain. The sky is not the limit, I'm probably looking at topping out at 2-300 and would need a good excuse for my wife on why I'm doing that.

I'm not an big bass sort of person, but would like something to fill in the lows and add a bit of punch to action movies. I was doing some searches and couldn't figure out if there was anything worth replacing the PSW10 with that is in my budget.

So any suggestions?

Erik Tracy

DanAckerman wrote: »

I've been following a few conversations about speakers and I keep hearing that the choice of a subwoofer will be key. So instead of hijacking someone else's thread, here is my info.

I will start with the room. Current room is an odd shape. The longest wall is around 20 ft, widest point is around 16 ft. However there is wooden staircase along one of the long walls. The floors are hardwood, with some area rugs (My house is around 160 years old, no laminates here) The ceiling is between 10-11 ft high, except where there is an up on the staircase to around 28ft. I'm running a 5.1 system here now, I don't think 7.1 is really possible in the current configuration.

Use is both music and home theater.

Setup.
AVR - Denon AVR-688. I only paid $160 for it new and so far I'm fairly happy with it. It wasn't what I went out to buy, but I couldn't pass up the price.
Fronts - Polk TSi400's
Center - Polk CS10
Surrounds - Polk TSi200's
SW - Currently only a PSW10

Budget - I'm not certain. The sky is not the limit, I'm probably looking at topping out at 2-300 and would need a good excuse for my wife on why I'm doing that.

I'm not an big bass sort of person, but would like something to fill in the lows and add a bit of punch to action movies. I was doing some searches and couldn't figure out if there was anything worth replacing the PSW10 with that is in my budget.

So any suggestions?

I'm just full of.....advice this morning....too much coffee....:D

For your budget, you really can't expect too much from a new sub.

You may want to try a used one on audiogon - good deals pop up now and then if you can be patient.

Shipping cost kill you on a sub though - so if you budget 200 for a used sub but factor in some more for shipping you could find a really good sub to compliment your system.

cnh

You want to stay with Polk? And get a better sub...PSW505 as www.onecall.com 299 plus shipping 300 watts, 12", about 40+ pounds, 28hz at -3db. A decent sub close to your budget...

Eric is right--shipping adds to cost...but take a look. I've bought from them, they Fed Ex and so far items have arrived double boxed in good condition.

cnh

Erik Tracy

cnh wrote: »

You want to stay with Polk? And get a better sub...PSW505 as www.onecall.com 299 plus shipping 300 watts, 12", about 40+ pounds, 28hz at -3db. A decent sub close to your budget...

Eric is right--shipping adds to cost...but take a look. I've bought from them, they Fed Ex and so far items have arrived double boxed in good condition.

cnh

Audiogon just had a completed sale for a PSW505 for $185....just stirring the pot!

Pycroft

I agree with the group that audiogon is the way to go! I had a similar price range (Maybe even less) and wanted somethign of quality. I found a Definitive Technology Prosub 800 (300 Watt RMS) for 200 dollars shipped. It's small, powerful, clean, and exactly what I needed. I wouldn't try to lowball too much, but you can find some sweet deals. The 200 free shipping was supposed to be 200 + shipping. I told the guy I'd give him full price and he can cover shipping and it worked. I couldn't be happier. You may wish to try out the sub you're looking at before hand. Some higher quality places will allow you to try subs plugged into the exact equipment you have. Especially, if you have an odd shaped room, you may want to look for something quite powerful to cover the basses (Pun intended). Also, don't forget that sub placement is important. At first, my sub was in the place it was supposed to be, but it didn't sound great. A small modification and now it's perfect (I have an oddly shaped room as well). Good luck!

Pycroft

lockmart

I've been very happy with this and it gets great reviews. Sometimes you can find a discount code dropping the price to $250.

http://www.overstock.com/Electronics/Bic-Acoustech-H100-Cinema-Series-Powered-Subwoofer/1513356/product.html?keywords=bic%20h100&searchtype=HP_Header

NewHTguy

I had a JBL sub12, which could be had for less than $200. Not sexy and not a sub that gets talked about much on forums like this. BUT... if you only want it for movies, it was pretty nice and got good reviews on for the money.

DanAckerman

Thanks for the advice. I'm hoping to be able to upgrade soon.

xj4094dg

I'm shopping for same right now, not in a hurry, let us know what you end up with.

DanAckerman

I will post a follow up once I pull the trigger. It's a hard price point, I've been shopping around and for the $300-$400 range there are a number of good choices available new. However if I'm bumping up to that price point, I really have to have a way to convince my wife. With the current sale, I'd been thinking about picking up a new polk sub, but haven't found the right sale yet to convince me. Now if they only really sold for the prices they have listed on the sale page, I would jump in a heartbeat.

dpowell

If you're looking at upwards of $400, you might be able to find a used PSW1000.

dpowell

Check out this sub in the for sale section

http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=82338